Improved governor-valve for steam-engines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

STUART B. MCCRAY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVED GOVERNOR-VALVE FOR STEAM-ENGINES.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, STUART B. MCCRAY, of Grand Rapids, in the countyot Kent and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Governor-Valves; and I do hereby declare that the followngis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a vertical central section of a governor-valve constructed with myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the principle of operation of my improvement.

Similar letters of reference in each of the several figures indicate corresponding parts.

In the combination of a piston-valve with a common ball-governor, my invention consists, first, in having a hollow cylindrical valve constructed and arranged to work in suspension over a vertical horizontally-partitioned winged piston in sucli a manner that it does not come in contact with any horizontal surface nor has any point of binding contact against said vertical piston, this arrangement avoiding the loss of power eX- perienced in working the governor, or what is termed equilibrium, valve, which has two horizontal seats of different areas additional to the vertical cylindrical piston which I use, said loss of power resulting` from the valve not being balanced when resting upon its seats and shut, the perfect balancing with ordinary valves being impracticable from the fact of its being necessary to have the upper seat of greater area than the lower seat, this difference in the areas of the seats being resorted to on account of its being beneficial, and, in fact, necessary, to employ the steam for keeping the valve to its seat.

My invention consists, secondly, in the suspending and working of the hollow cylindrical valve by means of an eccentric or other analogous device when said eccentric is so arranged on the shaft of the slotted rocking link of the governor that its longest radius` is at right angles, or nearly so, with the valve stem when the valve is closed and its shortest radius parallel with the slotte'd rocking link of the governor. Thus suspending the valve enables me to operate it, although the governor-balls descend with a regular and uniform motion, with a quick speed when the governor-balls first begin to drop, and with a gradually-decreasing speed as the balls continue their descent. I am also enabled to operate the valve with a gradually-increasin g speed as the governor-balls rise. Thus having the valve open to a greater extent with the same length of movement of the eccentric at the commencement ot' the falling of the balls than it does in a like length of movement of the eccentric in the continued descent of the balls, is essentiahin order to meet with nearly a t'ull head of steam t-he check given to the engine by the application of weight or labor thereto.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention,I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.-

I construct the exterior parts of my governor of cast-iron or any other suitable material in two part-s, as shown at A A and I I in the accompanying drawings, by screwing the two parts together or by fastening with bolts and flanges. The steam-pipe connecting the engine with the boiler is to screw into the top and bottom of the governor, as represented in Fig. l, or attached by flanges and bolts. The interior of I I is bored out to receive the lower ends ol' the wings D D D, which are fitted tight into I I and the shoul` ders on D D D, resting on a ring or projection R R upon the upper side of I I, supporting the winged disk C. (Shown in Fig. 2.) The ring R R and the wings DD D and E E E and disk C are all turned the same diameter.

B B is the winged hollow cylindrical valve, and H I-I a hollow spool-shaped stein connected to the same by arms G G. The cyliuderB is fitted to move loosely up and down over the periphery of the wings D E, disk C, and ring R R, it being suspended by the arms G G and spool I-l on an eccentric L, the spool being arranged to move up and down over the stern F when operated upon by thc eccentric L of the rocking shaft M, which carries t-he slotted link J. By depressing the links J the eccentric will raisc the cylinder B B and cause two stean'i-openings to be made at the same time, one above the ring R R and one above the disk C. The eccentric L and steril M, I form of one piece of metal. The stem M is made to turn freely within the stuffing-box K, the stem M forming a conical joint at the inner end of the stuting-box K, the two being ground together, forming a steam-joint, thereby requiring no packing. y

From the foregoing` descriptionit Will be evident that the valve B never rests down upon part I and that it has no seat at top, it being` held in suspension by the eccentric L,

which is controlled by the governor, whose combination by the eccentric with the valve is such that it never causes the valve to descend lower than is represented in the drawings, Fig. l. rlhus suspendingthe valve avoids loss of power, as set forth in the statement of the nature of the invention, and also insures an insinuation of sufficient steam into the valve to keep up a perfect lubrication of the same, and thus avoid friction in case of eX- pansion of the metals of the piston and valve. It will also be seen by referring to diagram Fig. 3 that when the eccentric performs its first movement from 1 to 2 by reason of the falling of the governor-balls the valve will be raised a distance corresponding to the distance between 6 and 7, and that when the eccentric has continued its movement a like distance from 2 to 3 by reason of a continued lfalling of the balls the valve will be raised only just about half the distance it moved at the start, as indicated by the blue line S. Thus the speed of the valve in opening gradu ally decreases, as 'indicated by the red and yellow lines 9 and 10 until it has completed the extent of its movement. The operating of the valve in closing is just the reverse of that in opening, it having a slow speed at the first rising of the balls and a gradually-increasing speed until it is completely shut. It should be noticed that no evil consequences can result from a quick closing of the valve, as it has no seats to slam against.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is-

l. Having a hollow cylindricalvalve B constructed and arranged to work in suspension over a vertical piston D D,so that it does not come in contact with any horizontal surface, nor has any point of binding contact against said vertical piston D, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The suspending and working of a hollow cylindrical valve B by means of an eccentric or other analogous device L when said eccentric is so arranged on the shaft of the slotted rocking link that its longest radius is at right angles, or nearly so, with the valve-stem H when the valve is closed, and its shortest radius parallel, or nearly so, with the link J of the governor, -substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

STUART B. MCCRAY. Vitnesses:

G. YORKE ATLEE, EDM. F. BROWN. 

